Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), also known as diastolic heart failure, accounts for roughly half of all heart failure cases worldwide. The condition, which occurs when the ventricles do not relax as they fill with blood following heart muscle contractions, is especially common in elderly women, striking up to 10% of those over 80 years old. Now stem cell biotech firm Novoheart Holdings Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, is partnering with Astrazeneca plc, of Cambridge, U.K., to co-develop a human-specific in vitro, functional model of HFpEF. The goal is to give drug researchers critical clues of a drug candidate’s efficacy before it is tested in patients.

Baxter International Inc., of Deerfield, Ill., has entered an agreement to acquire Seprafilm adhesion barrier and related assets from Paris-based Sanofi SA. The expected price at closing is $350 million, with the transaction anticipated to wrap up in the first quarter of 2020.

PARIS – Dentressangle Initiative SAS, of Lyon, France, is in talks to buy a majority stake in Marle International Holding SAS, an orthopedic implant contract manufacturer. The acquisition is said to be worth $880 million, although Dentressangle has not confirmed this amount. “We are looking forward to supporting the management team in achieving its long-term goal for Marle, of offering higher value-added services to its clients and pursuing target acquisitions,” Thierry Coloigner, managing partner for mid and large cap at Dentressangle, told BioWorld MedTech.

Huntington’s disease is a fatal hereditary disease that results in the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. It erodes a person’s physical and mental abilities, usually beginning in their 30s and 40s, and to date has no cure. Now Austin-based Asuragen Inc. is joining forces with Wave Life Sciences USA Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., to develop companion diagnostics (CDx) for Wave’s investigative allele-selective therapeutic programs targeting the genetic cause of the disease.

London-based Livanova plc is exiting its Caisson transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) program as it looks to restructure its heart valve business. According to the company, the heart valve business line represented nearly $130 million in revenue for full-year 2018 and experienced a revenue decline over the last five years. It attributed the declines to multiple market conditions.

Roughly two and half years after it picked up Cynosure, Hologic Inc., of Marlborough, Mass., has reported its intention to sell it to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) for a total purchase price of $205 million in cash, subject to certain closing adjustments. The company expects net cash proceeds of about $138 million. CD&R Partner Derek Strum expressed enthusiasm about the deal, noting that his firm expects “to continue to invest behind the company's strong brand and large global installed base to accelerate growth via expanded sales & marketing efforts and bring new products and technologies to market[.]”

San Clemente, Calif.-based ICU Medical Inc. has acquired Minneapolis-based Pursuit Vascular Inc. for $75 million and an additional, undisclosed earn-out payment that would be due in 2021. In the deal, it gains the Clearguard HD Antimicrobial Barrier Cap, which is the only U.S.-marketed device that's been shown to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections in hemodialysis patients.

Stryker Corp. is making another big buy, this time picking up Wright Medical Group NV, of Amsterdam, for a total enterprise value of about $5.4 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2020, and its value exceeds Stryker's previous large deal – that of Leesburg, Va.-based K2m Group Holdings Inc. in 2018 for $1.4 billion.